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The latest RICS Residential Survey has sparked optimism among house buyers and sellers, though tenants may face a more challenging market.

According to the survey, which gathers insights from estate agents on the housing market, there has been a "sustained improvement in market activity", with positive trends in demand, sales, and new listings, as reported by .

This marks the third consecutive report with a positive demand indicator.

Estate agents are anticipating an increase in sales over the next few months even amid concerns about the budget and predict growth in the market throughout the year.

Tomer Aboody, director of MT Finance, commented: "With lower rates and potentially a further cut in base rate on the way, buyers are feeling more confident about taking the plunge."

"Although property prices are rising, we need to remember that they're increasing against a lower benchmark from 2022 following the adverse market reaction to Liz Truss' ill-advised Budget."

"Talking of budgets, we await to see what Rachel Reeves will deliver later this month, but very few are holding their breath for a positive outcome."

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, noted that despite the "uptrend in housing in the last few months", a slowdown in some sub-indices such as sales expectations, price expectations, and new buyer enquiries suggests that some º£½ÇÊÓƵ consumers might be "holding back on big ticket purchases like houses until after the budget".